Limits and Punishments set by Allah (Hudood)

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to me; al-Layth narrated to us, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab, from Abu Bakr ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: An adulterer does not commit adultery while he is a believer; a drinker does not drink wine while he is a believer; a thief does not steal while he is a believer; and a person does not plunder property that people look up at him to see him take while he is a believer. Ibn Shihab also narrated from Said ibn al-Musayyab and Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, a similar report, except that it does not mention plunder.

Hafs ibn Umar narrated to us; Hisham narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Anas. (Another chain:) Adam narrated to us; Shubah narrated to us; Qatadah narrated to us, from Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet ﷺ disciplined people for drinking wine with palm stalks and sandals, and Abu Bakr administered forty lashes.

Qutaybah narrated to us; Abd al-Wahhab narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Ibn Abi Mulaykah, from Uqbah ibn al-Harith, who said: Al-Numayman—or the son of al-Numayman—was brought in after drinking. The Prophet ﷺ ordered those present in the house to strike him. They struck him, and I was among those who struck him with sandals.

Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us; Wuhayb ibn Khalid narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Abdullah ibn Abi Mulaykah, from Uqbah ibn al-Harith, that al-Numayman—or the son of al-Numayman—was brought to the Prophet ﷺ while drunk. This distressed him, and he ordered those in the house to strike him. They struck him with palm stalks and sandals, and I was among those who struck him.

Muslim narrated to us; Hisham narrated to us; Qatadah narrated to us, from Anas, who said: The Prophet ﷺ administered lashes for drinking wine with palm stalks and sandals, and Abu Bakr administered forty lashes.

Qutaybah narrated to us; Abu Damrah narrated to us, from Anas, from Yazid ibn al-Had, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): A man who had been drinking was brought to the Prophet ﷺ, who said: Strike him. Abu Hurayrah said: Some of us struck him with our hands, some with sandals, and some with their garments. When he left, some people said: May Allah disgrace you! The Prophet ﷺ said: Do not say that; do not help Satan against him.

Abdullah ibn Abd al-Wahhab narrated to us; Khalid ibn al-Harith narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us; Abu Husayn narrated to us: I heard Umayr ibn Said al-Nakhai say: I heard Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) say: I would not carry out a prescribed punishment on anyone and then feel troubled if he died, except in the case of a drinker. If he died, I would pay blood money for him, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not establish a fixed punishment for it.

Makki ibn Ibrahim narrated to us, from al-Juayd, from Yazid ibn Khusayfah, from al-Saib ibn Yazid, who said: During the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu Bakr’s rule, and the early part of Umar’s caliphate, a drinker would be brought to us, and we would strike him with our hands, sandals, and cloaks. Toward the end of Umar’s rule, he prescribed forty lashes; when people became insolent and wicked, he prescribed eighty.

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to me, saying: Khalid ibn Yazid narrated to me, from Said ibn Abi Hilal, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from Umar ibn al-Khattab, that during the time of the Prophet ﷺ there was a man named Abdullah, nicknamed Donkey, who used to make the Messenger of Allah ﷺ laugh. The Prophet ﷺ had flogged him for drinking. One day he was brought in, and the Prophet ﷺ ordered that he be flogged. A man among the people said: O Allah, curse him! How often he is brought in! The Prophet ﷺ said: Do not curse him, for by Allah, I know that he loves Allah and His Messenger.

Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Jafar narrated to us; Anas ibn Iyad narrated to us; Ibn al-Had narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: A drunk man was brought to the Prophet ﷺ, and he ordered that he be struck. Some of us struck him with our hands, some with sandals, and some with garments. When he left, a man said: What is wrong with him? May Allah disgrace him! The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Do not become Satan’s helpers against your brother.

Amr ibn Ali narrated to me; Abdullah ibn Dawud narrated to us; Fudayl ibn Ghazwan narrated to us, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: An adulterer does not commit adultery while he is a believer, and a thief does not steal while he is a believer.

Umar ibn Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrated to us; my father narrated to me; al-Amash narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: May Allah curse the thief: he steals an egg and his hand is cut off, and he steals a rope and his hand is cut off. Al-Amash said: They understood the egg to mean an iron helmet, and they understood the rope to be one worth several dirhams.

Muhammad ibn Yusuf narrated to us; Ibn Uyaynah narrated to us, from al-Zuhri, from Abu Idris al-Khawlani, from Ubadah ibn al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: We were with the Prophet ﷺ in a gathering, and he said: Pledge allegiance to me that you will not associate anything with Allah, steal, or commit adultery. He recited the entire verse, then said: Whoever among you fulfills this, his reward is with Allah. Whoever commits any of these acts and is punished for it, that punishment is an expiation for him. Whoever commits any of these acts and Allah conceals it for him, then if He wills, He will forgive him, and if He wills, He will punish him.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah narrated to me; Asim ibn Ali narrated to us; Asim ibn Muhammad narrated to us, from Waqid ibn Muhammad, who said: I heard my father say that Abdullah said: At the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Which month do you know to be most sacred? They said: This month of ours. He said: Which land do you know to be most sacred? They said: This land of ours. He said: Which day do you know to be most sacred? They said: This day of ours. He said: Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has made your blood, property, and honor sacred, except when justice permits otherwise, just as this day of yours, in this land of yours, in this month of yours, is sacred. Have I conveyed the message? He repeated it three times, and each time they replied: Yes. He said: Woe to you—or alas for you—do not return after me as disbelievers, striking one another’s necks.

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwah, from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: Whenever the Prophet ﷺ was given a choice between two matters, he chose the easier one, as long as it was not sinful. If it was sinful, he was the furthest of people from it. By Allah, he never took revenge for himself over anything done to him, but when Allah’s limits were violated, he would act for Allah.

Abu al-Walid narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwah, from Aishah, that Usamah spoke to the Prophet ﷺ about a woman. He said: Those before you were destroyed because they applied the prescribed punishment to the lowly and spared the prominent. By the One in whose hand is my soul, if Fatimah had done that, I would cut off her hand.

Said ibn Sulayman narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwah, from Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that Quraysh were concerned about a Makhzumi woman who had stolen. They said: Who will speak to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and who would dare to do so except Usamah, the beloved of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Usamah spoke to him, and he said: Are you interceding regarding one of Allah’s prescribed punishments? Then he stood and delivered a sermon, saying: People, those before you went astray because when a prominent person among them stole, they let him go, but when a weak person stole, they applied the prescribed punishment to him. By Allah, if Fatimah daughter of Muhammad stole, Muhammad would cut off her hand.

Abdullah ibn Maslamah narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Sad narrated to us, from Ibn Shihab, from Amrah, from Aishah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: The hand is cut off for a quarter dinar or more. Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid, Ibn Akhi al-Zuhri, and Mamar also corroborated this from al-Zuhri.